Aspen & Oak

Great Read Recommendation – All About Weather

This week with all the changes happening outside with the weather, as spring showers turn to hints of summer, we thought it would be fun to reread one of our favorite science books, “All About Weather,” by Huda Harajli, M.A. and illustrations by Jane Sanders.

The author does a wonderful job at teaching about the complex topic of weather and seasons in simple terms appropriate for 3-6 year olds. Questions such as, “What does the sky look like?,” and “What does the air feel like?,” open up to conversation with your little ones. Nestled throughout the book, there are also additional facts, for learners that are ready to know beyond the basics. This book not only does a great job at teaching, it also has fabulous illustrations that keep kids engaged.

From front to back, the book is filled with cheerful and colorful images of weather concepts and children enjoying the different seasons.

Inspired Activity – Nature Collection

After diving into the book, we took our classroom outdoors. For today’s adventure, the task was to gather intriguing items from nature that symbolized the season. Our toddler was happy to help big brother collect treasures for his basket.

Much to my relief, their collection didn’t include any creepy crawlies. Instead, we ended up with a beautiful cornucopia of spring flowers and leaves.

I then showed them how to carefully place the flowers and leaves in between pages of an old textbook in order to press them flat and dry them.

They were eager to see what the pressings looked like but, of course we will have to wait another day. When they do dry in a couple weeks, we will glue them onto pages to create a nature booklet.

Inspired Activity – Wreath

With the pressings out of mind, we moved on to the next activity. We had so many excess leaves, we decided to create a wreath with them. Using a cardboard ring from some packaging I had leftover, we began to attach all the leaves on with a glue gun. If you’re looking for a glue gun that is kid friendly, the one shown in the photo below works great, as it does not get that hot!

It took a very long time to attach all the leaves, so much that the kids were tired, and I ended up having to finish up the project. But here is the final result below.

After a few days, the leaves started to shrivel and dry, leaving huge gaps of cardboard showing. If we do this project again, we will probably let the leaves dry first, even though the kids don’t seem to notice or mind the appearance.

Additional Related Activities

Afterwards, we watched a short music video about the months of the year, which the kids enjoyed singing along with. If interested, the video is by Mooseclumps: Kids Learning Songs. It is a catchy song that shows the changes of the seasons with the months.

Continued Learning Through Bedtime Reading

At bedtime, we touch on the subject of seasons again by reading the book “All Around Bustletown : Spring,” by Rotraut Susanne Berner.  It’s more of a picture book than a story book. In it several townspeople go about a spring day in Bustletown . You can follow these characters by finding them on each page as they journey through town going about their lives. We like to discuss what kind of activities the characters are doing and try to find them on each page.

Its spring as I write this post, but if you are looking for some great recommendations for books for other seasons I have listed some of our favorites below.

Book Recommendations for the Topic: Seasons

“The Leaf Thief” by Alice Hemming with illustrations by Nicola Slater

“Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn” written and illustrated by Kenard Park

Leave a Comment

Let me know if you have any favorite seasonal or weather books in the comments below! We are always looking for some great finds. Also, I’d be interested to know what kind of seasonal activities you do with your little ones. What inspires you?